Indian and U.S. Students Embrace Joy of Cultural Diversity

During their three-month partnership, students from Bellows Free Academy (Vermont, USA) and their IVECA friends from St. Mark’s Sr. Secondary Public School (New Delhi, India) showcased intercultural dialogue, respect for diversity, and openness to learn from others – all critical in a world that is becoming ever more connected.

Using IVECA’s platform, these children spent their semester discussing the similarities and differences between the cultural wardrobes of the United States and India. Of course, this partnership, a first for the New Delhi school, went far beyond an exchange of information about clothing.

The children also learned about the effects of geographical features on the ways people live, work and celebrate. For example, the Indian students presented Diwali, a festival celebrating happiness and lights, while the US students shared their tradition of Halloween, a popular celebration involving lights. Additionally, the students explored the role indigenous plants play in their economies. St. Mark’s students illustrated how spices contribute to India’s international trade.  Likewise, students from BFA  explained how Northeastern states benefit from the production and sale of Maple syrup.

On January 31, this collaboration concluded with a fashion show that highlighted traditional costumes worn during festivals, athletic uniforms, and everyday clothing.  This one-hour virtual exchange celebrated their friendship, joy of learning about new cultures, and the importance of intercultural understanding.

The farewell letters the children exchanged demonstrate the power of their experience:

“…. it was the first time I had been a part of such program and I thoroughly enjoyed it. I learned that the differences in our cultures make this world an exciting place to be, but our similarities make us understand each other in a better way. This understanding is required to make this world a better place to live in.” –  A student from St. Mark School in New Delhi. “… I just have to say that it has been a great time doing IVECA for two years and I really hope that I get to do this again. I have really been happy to meet different people from other cultures.”   “I hope that you had just as much fun as I did!  I know that most schools do not get the opportunity to communicate with people from separate countries and one thing that I learned from this experience was that we have a lot of similarities.”

Brazilian and American Students Cut Across Language Boundaries

When one wants to learn a foreign language, one is often advised to go abroad to be in contact with native speakers and their culture. However, throughout this semester, students from Oswaldo Aranha Middle School and their IVECA’s partners from Sunderland Elementary School experienced this journey to multilingualism without actually leaving their classrooms in Esteio (Brazil) and Massachusetts (the US).

These students took on a bilingual trip together where they worked on engineering, geography and language projects. During their travel, they sometimes got some fuel via assisted auto-translation. This has facilitated them to achieve progress on the path of intercultural communication and to take part in a very positive experience, as reminded by Oswaldo Aranha English teacher (Miguel Antônio Machado). He believes this type of exchange is essential for his pupils as it gives them the opportunity to connect directly with students with a different mother tongue and a different cultural background as well.

View full article here: Alunos interagem por videoconferência com estudantes dos Estados Unidos

Intercultural Understanding on Technological Impact in Colombia and the U.S.

What do maple syrup, drones, solar panels and ice cream have in common? Well, fourth graders from Abraham Lincoln International School in Colombia and their IVECA partners from Georgia Elementary & Middle School in the US helped us answer this question.

Indeed, they addressed these topics during their mid-December Live Classes which focused on how the respective industries of their regions use modern technologies.

Due to the fact that we live in a technology-driven world, American and Colombian students chose to explore together how technology influences their daily life. While Vermont students shared with their partner friends how modern science facilitates the manufacturing of some typical products of their area (maple syrup and ice cream), Colombian students worked, amongst others, on renewable technologies, drones and coffee industry.

By discussing throughout this semester how new technologies are creating massive changes in their regions, these students clearly increased their knowledge about industrial science. Students also had opportunities to build intercultural understanding of the technological impact on people’s life.  Abraham Lincoln School’s principal commented about their experience at the end of this three-month partnership:

“Educating children with a humanistic approach has been set as a priority and in that direction we cherish the possibility to establish interaction with people from different cultures. Today we praise greatly the chance you have provided us. It’s been an awesome experience working with you and IVECA organization these sessions that have contributed to expanding our intercultural understanding. Tons of thanks and may this be the first of many similar experiences.” –  Ms. Rocio Mongui